London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

‘It’s about the people’: communities come together for jubilee street parties

‘It’s about the people’: communities come together for jubilee street parties

Neighbours say platinum jubilee celebrations have helped them come closer together during tough times

“When I woke up this morning, I thought, ‘Oh my god is anyone going to come?’,” said Annie Hobart, talking about the hastily planned jubilee street party she and neighbour, Aysha Rahman, organised just three weeks ago.

“We weren’t sure how it was going to happen, but it’s come together nicely,” said Rahman. The pair were thrilled to see so many faces at their party in Moseley, south Birmingham. “It’s really nice to see so many people here,” said Hobart.

The street party was one of 16,000 expected to be held over the jubilee bank holiday weekend, with some councils reporting record applications for road closures. While most were scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, a number were kicking off earlier.

Makeshift barriers close off the road for a street party in Moseley.


On Ashbourne Road in Wolverhampton on Thursday, hairdresser, Emma Smith, stood outside her house proudly admiring the street bustling with children under rows of union jack bunting.

She similarly decided to organise the street party a few weeks ago on a whim after seeing TV coverage of the jubilee celebrations, as she felt people living on the street could do with a boost after a tough few years.

“Obviously we’ve had Covid, and our street has had a bad reputation as well,” she said, referring to a shooting on the street three years ago in which a young boy was injured. “I just thought we needed something which says this is what we’re all about, community. And the kids are loving it, they’re absolutely loving it.”

Smith said she was out at 8am getting the street ready, cleaning up broken glass and sending her son-in-law up a ladder to hang bunting from the street lights.

With the help of her neighbours Yvonne Aston and Elaine Johnson, the street was filled with activity, including a bouncy castle and penalty shoot-out for the kids, and tables of food – sausage rolls, sandwiches, chocolate biscuits.

All three have lived on the street for decades but have never seen a street party happen before. “I was a bit nervous to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to do, what food to make,” said Smith. “But we love the Queen, and wanted to do something for her.”

In the afternoon, the party was joined by Martin Levermore from the West Midlands Lieutenancy as a representative of the Queen.

“We’ll probably never see a platinum jubilee again, so it’s excellent to see people being part of a historic celebration,” he said. “I think we’re all going through very different times, with energy prices going up, fuel prices, food prices. And I think just seeing this and the bonding, it actually brings communities closer and closer together, which is important.”

From l-r Yvonne Aston, 49, Elaine Johnson, 54, and Emma Smith, 43, who organised a Jubilee street party on their Wolverhampton road, Ashbourne Road


“We were totally unprofessional about it, but that’s the best part, we’ve just come together on the day,” said Shaid Malik in Moseley, who also helped get the party off the ground. “I improvised and used the wheelie bins to close off the road. We only got hold of all the tables and chairs at the 11th hour.

“But it’s about the people more than anything else.”

They also felt it was important for the children of the street to have the experience of celebrating the monarch on such a historic occasion.

“We do love the Queen, and it’s nice to come out and celebrate everything she has done for the country,” said Rahman. “We’ve been really fortunate to be reigned by such an amazing queen, with all the trials and tribulations she’s had, and how she’s kept it together.”

None of the street’s residents said they had seen the street come together like this before, but expressed hope Friday’s event could mark the start of a new tradition.

“This is just a trial, let’s see how it goes,” Hobart. “It would be really nice to do more.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×